On Nov. 17, at the international conference entitled “Last Frontiers of Transplant Operation” in Madrid, doctors announced that they are currently in preparation for the first double leg transplant on a patient who lost both his legs in an accident and is physically unable to use prosthetic limbs. The doctor, Pedro Cavadas, will lead the transplant team in surgery, loosely scheduled to take place within the next two to six months at Hospital de la Fe in Valencia.

AMSTERDAM, Holland

The Dutch government is pushing to ban the sale of marijuana from all coffee shops in an attempt to decrease national criminal activity. Tourists are currently able to legally buy and possess up to five grams of hash. The government announced a more expansive “crack-down” on the matter, enforcing new bans this coming September. Amsterdam has taken a leading pro-active approach; already in the process of closing many shops in the red light district that currently practice drug sales.

GENEVA, Switzerland

Researchers at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, announced on Nov. 23 that they have managed to trap and suspend 38 anti-hydrogen atoms in place for a fraction of a second; a scientific breakthrough, as any antimatter created before was destroyed upon instant contact with real matter. Researchers report that this new ability to study antimatter will allow for the test of fundamental physics, previously rendered impossible.